Dancing On Ice has crowned the winner of this series with Sam Aston taking the top spot beating off Michaela Strachan and footballer Anton Ferdinand

Dancing On Ice’s Sam Aston and Molly Lanaghan have won the ITV series.

Sam, 31, best known as Chesney Brown on ITV’s Coronation Street was partnered with Molly on the ITV series and beat bookmakers favourite Michaela Strachan.

He triumphed in the final over the Spring Watch presenter who was runner up and former footballer Anton Ferdinand who came third. All three of the finalists got the show off to a perfect start, with the judges giving all of the 40 out of 40 for their show dances. After a second performance of the famous Bolero, made famous by Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, actor Sam then skated to victory with the public vote.

Sam said: “I’ve got no words, I’m shocked,” and hugged his skating partner and became tearful after being handed the trophy. Dean, 66, said he was “really proud” of Aston after he and Lanaghan impressed the judges following their showcase routine to The Pink Panther Theme.

“I mean tonight, everything came together. Your skating skills are always on show, but you had to have timing and acting… I’m really proud of you”, Dean said. Just before he was announced as the winner he had said: “I have surprised myself a bit on here. It has been a whirlwind but a really lovely journey to be on.

Sam Aston revealed he was lost for words“What I’ll take away from the show the most is it is good to challenge yourself in life. If you put your heart and soul into it, anything is possible.” Praising his partner Molly he said: “We have had a laugh from start to finish.” Runner up Michaela, 58, said: “I feel a winner to have got this far.

“It has been such a bubble of skating joy. I hope I have inspired people of a certain age to try something new.” Sam battled through the pain to win the final as he has been having physio after dislocating his shoulder earlier in the competition.

He said: “I’ve really enjoyed the journey. It’s mad cos it’s, you know, it’s just a roller coaster, but I’ve absolutely loved it and you know, I think it’s, it’s really nice to just push yourself out of your comfort zone, you know, challenge yourself

The star previously admitted to being in a ‘bubble’ ( 
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ITV)
He had also vowed last week to throw himself into the final. Last week he said: “I always want to learn new stuff, 100%. Actually I say that to my partner regularly. I’m like, ‘right, what can we do next?’ The main thing is you have to get the choreography as tight as possible before you can start concentrating on new things or big lifts.

“But I feel quite fearless about learning new things, the more the merrier for me. Dan, who helps us with our choreography, always says ‘aim for the stars’, so that’s what we do!”

Michaela Strachan finished in second place ( 
Image:
ITV)The final also saw a performance on the ice by Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean which could be their last on TV as they plan to retire after an arena tour this year. Following Sam’s win, his co-stars have taken to social media to share their joy. Tony Maudsley penned: “He only went and won it!! Massive congratulations to our boy Sam! The Corrie Actors WhatsApp group is on FIRE tonight. We’re all so proud of him! Couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke!! BRAVO SAM!!” Ryan Thomas added: “This makes me so happy.”

Over the past two years, the ITV show has lost more than one million viewers, with the 2023 launch episode being watched by 4.1 million people. However, this series has not made it over 3 million, according to official overnight ratings from BARB. Channel chiefs believe the only way to justify the huge costs involved in making Dancing on Ice going forward is by attracting a blockbuster audience, which isn’t happening.

One source said: “There are very real fears this is the end of the road for Dancing on Ice. It’s had a good run for nearly 20 years and has a very loyal set of viewers who really love it but the sad truth is there’s just not enough of them. We need bums on seats but the ratings have dropped to a point where it’s difficult to justify the cost